


Tunnel Vision

by Eistibus



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/M, Hiccup is a Slytherin and I am right, Love Confessions, awkward teenagers, her competitiveness and her attraction to Hiccup are at war lol rip girl, set in a universe where the Tri-wizard tournament is back, written as a character study for Astrid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22219327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eistibus/pseuds/Eistibus
Summary: Back then, Astrid had been the wonder girl of Hogwarts. The star of Gryffindor, role model student, best Chaser Hogwarts has ever seen. Her glory ended when suddenly, Hiccup Horrrendous Haddock III, previous nobody now turned superstar started beating her at everything. Literally. He took the spotlight from then on, genius Slytherin boy, top of class for all time, the fastest and the most agile Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen.It hurt to no longer be in the limelight, to always be in his shadow. But she can't help admiring him, he was kind, compassionate, and a competent leader. And he's incredibly attractive too.In which Astrid and Hiccup have a confrontation that ends with a twist. Pre-relationship, silly teenagers.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Comments: 19
Kudos: 70





	Tunnel Vision

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh, the infamous Hogwarts AU. This came to me suddenly in the middle of the night, choosing to write a 4k one shot instead of editing articles and finishing my editorial. Oh well.
> 
> Okay take note, I made some changes to this universe. One, the Triwizard tournament is back, because why tf not. And two, the age requirement of the Triwizard tournament is not quite the same. I've chosen to make it 15(?) to make it HTTYD compliant since the gang were 15 year olds when they started training dragons. 
> 
> I also made a choice that some of the readers may not like(?), which was Hiccup being sorted in Slytherin rather than in Hufflepuff. I will start my defense by insisting that he IS definitely Slytherin; intelligent and cunning, with an insane drive to prove himself to the world and leave his mark. He is a strong leader as well as a careful thinker, with a snarky attitude too. Sound Slytherin enough?
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys like this. My memory of HP goes all the way back in grade school so....have fun? And leave kudos and comments!

The Great Hall erupts with roars of cheering, as students donned in black and green robes stand from their tables to holler delightedly.

House Slytherin had won the House Cup yet again, third time on the row. Astrid huffs bitterly, jamming her fork on her steak, upset that her house couldn’t overtake Slytherin. They were only down by 30 points after all, and had House Gryffindor won the Quidditch Finals, surely they would have won the House Cup as well.

But of course. Even though Astrid scored points after points, being the best Chaser there was in the entirety of the Hogwarts Quidditch varsity, their initial access all crumbled away the moment Hiccup pumped his fist up in the air, Golden Snitch in hand.

 _210 to 190, Slytherin versus Gryffindor._ Their massive lead over Slytherin fell away just like that.

It was a great game, if she were to be honest. The pitch stands were full that day, with even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students coming in to watch the decisive match for the House Cup. Gryffindor lost, but not without honor. She knew she did her best, which was why it was easy to hold her head up as both teams went for the ending handshake.

Well until her and Hiccup's hands came across each other, and she had found herself looking to the side then.

She sighed. _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III._ The golden boy of Hogwarts. Slytherin's seeker and the top student overall, the son of two amazing aurors Stoick Haddock and Valka Stormcutter. Chosen Hogwarts champion and won the Triwizard tournament, amazingly so, after showing a great feat of making the dragons in the arena listen and cooperate with him.

Hiccup, that scrawny, clumsy, awkward Slytherin boy, who had suddenly turned 180, improving leaps upon leaps. Suddenly one of the strongest duelists in the academy, suddenly the fastest and the most agile Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen, suddenly everyone’s biggest crush—what, with his tall and lean figure, adorable freckles, beautiful green eyes, and disarming smile—

_Wait. Hold on._

_Did I just…Did I just—_

_Did I just think Hiccup was adorable, beautiful, and disarming?_

Astrid flushes despite herself. She can’t believe her sudden change of thoughts, suddenly feeling embarrassed even though she has no outward reason to be. She should be wallowing in sadness after losing the House Cup, _dammit_ , Slytherin has won the same number of cups as Gryffindor now ever since she entered the academy.

She chances a glance at Hiccup from her table, who is currently being swamped by students in green robes. The Thorston twins flank Hiccup side by side, with Ruffnut ruffling Hiccup’s hair, the boy swatting her hand away with a large smile. Tuffnut was making an announcement with his goblet raised. “Hiccup says he’s treating us to the Three Broomsticks this weekend!”, Tuffnut exclaims, to which Hiccup elbows him saying, “I never said that!”. The long-haired boy just cackles, Hiccup’s voice drowned out by cheers all over the Slytherin table.

Astrid watches them from behind her bangs, a small smile creeping at the corner of her mouth. Beside her, Snotlout groans, upset about the results of the House Cup. She doesn’t admonish him for it, she did see how Snotlout tried his hardest flinging bludgers back at the Slytherin Beaters, which were none other than the twins.

“Ugh, I’m gonna smack that gleeful smile off of Tuffnut’s face, I swear it!” Snotlout growls beside her, slamming his fist down on the table. Astrid rolls her eyes at that.

“We can’t do anything about it. We lost the moment Hiccup got that Golden Snitch.” Astrid replies coolly, grabbing her goblet and sipping from it. Snotlout looks up at her, having plopped his face flat on the table after his sudden declaration.

“You know what, Astrid? I’m actually surprised you’re not raging right now." Astrid pauses from her drink as she returns her gaze on the boy at her right. "You scored so much points! The twins couldn’t even make a clean shot at you.” Snotlout drawls out, continuing to eat his meal gloomily.

Astrid sets her goblet down, her fist clenching slightly. “I am angry, Snotlout. I just don’t need to slam my fist on the table like an idiot.” She fires back with less venom than usual, her mood having damped her usual fieriness.

Snotlout shakes his head. “You totally slam things around when you’re angry Astrid, don’t even.”

Astrid huffs, flips her braid over her shoulder and crosses her arms. “Whatever, Snotlout.” She replies, looking down on her nails.

“Ahhhhh damn that Hiccup. Why is he so overpowered? He’s like one of those Green Eyes Black Dragon that Fishlegs keeps talking about, damn unbeatable guy. Can’t believe I used to heckle him around back when we were first years, now this asshole just gives me a smug grin whenever I see him, you know? Like he’s trying to deliberately set me off….”

Astrid drones out the rest of Snotlout’s rant. Hiccup this and Hiccup that, even her friend (she’ll never admit that to Snotlout, ever) is talking about him. Gods, he’s such a thorn on her side, isn’t he?

She looks at the Slytherin table again, Hiccup having stood up from his seat and giving a little speech about how they were definitely going to win next year’s House Cup. The Slytherin table roars again, Hiccup ending his speech with a smile and lifting his goblet to his mouth. Tuffnut and Ruffnut cheer in unison, chanting “Butterbeer! Butterbeer!” repeatedly. Hiccup shakes his head with an exasperated grin.

From the Slytherin table, Hiccup’s gaze shifts from his housemates, to the table farthest from Slytherin’s side, seemingly looking for someone. Astrid doesn’t realize she has stopped breathing, back going rigid as she held her watchful eyes on him

Then, Hiccup’s emerald gaze slides on hers, face softening, his smile turning more shy than gleeful.

Astrid stands then, hurrying away from the table and into the doors, ignoring Snotlout’s calls. She walks briskly, all the way to the Gryffindor tower, and all the way to her room where she promptly crashes on the bed.

With red cheeks and an uneasy stomach, she curses Hiccup to Hel.

\---

She used to be the wonder girl of Hogwarts. At least three years ago.

She used to be the talk of the four houses. Top of class, excellent duelist, best Chaser ever, model student, whatever. House Slytherin couldn’t even hold a flame to House Gryffindor back then, completely humbled as they lost year after year against Gryffindor. She’d always been confident and headstrong, never failing to display very high aptitude in any subject, even Transfiguration. She could even say that Headmistress Gothi watched her.

Until Hiccup, the boy whom she thought as irrelevant for the longest time, the very un-Slytherin boy who sucked at casting spells and was easily pushed away. Too weak to fight back, too awkward to make himself new friends. The boy kept to himself, staying away from House Slytherin's clique even though he was pureblood and from a noble house.

But then something had changed when news of Valka’s death spread throughout the Wizarding World. Even though they were complete strangers, Astrid still felt a deep sadness for her. She was her idol after all, there weren’t a lot of Aurors who were women. Drago Bludvist was a terrible enemy, and the entire Wizarding World is too afraid to make concrete measures against him. Astrid swears that once she becomes Auror, she will definitely bring Drago to justice.

Hiccup had changed then. At first he seemed jaded and soulless, but his character had definitely changed. He had a cold look in his eyes every now and then. He had started to retaliate against the ones bullying him, although it didn’t always ended up prettily.

But that Hiccup was only temporary. She supposes Toothless had something to do with it, the Nightfury dragon hatched by Gobber (who probably got the egg illegally, now that she thought about it). The Care for Magical Creatures professor was incredibly weird, if Astrid may say so herself, and she’s friends with Fishlegs—but she supposes Hiccup being Gobber’s helping hand was a good thing that happened. If Hiccup wasn't in the library, in the pitch, or in the Slytherin common room, then he's probably at Gobber's hut.

And then history happened. As it turned out, Hiccup actually had more than enough capacity to decimate the top students in their game. To be fair, he wasn’t so bad at academics in the first place, already being the top student in Care for Magical Creatures and History of Magic even when they were first years. But to suddenly beat everyone, including Astrid in everything? That pissed her off.

And it wasn’t just academics. Duelling went astonishingly well for him, his casting quick and efficient, his duels lasting no more than a minute. They had alternated as Duelling Champion for the past four years. She supposes she should have expected that, he was the son of a noble house after all, with notable aurors in his pure bloodline.

(Weirdly enough, Stoick was a Gryffindor and Valka was a Ravenclaw.)

And then came Quidditch, when it turned out Hiccup was really really good at flying. Like impossibly good. He was the fastest Hogwarts has ever seen, with agility and precision that probably only gods should have. _Odin above_. She remembers the Ravenclaw and Slytherin match that ended 5 minutes into the game, when 4th year Hiccup suddenly went for an incredibly sharp dive, twisting and turning against the bludgers the Beaters sent to him, and then suddenly emerging with the golden snitch at his hand.

Perhaps what really hurt her pride the most was when Hiccup had been chosen Hogwarts champion. It had been her dream to take that role. She had wanted to make the Hofferson family proud by being the first in their family to be Hogwarts champion, or Triwizard champion if the gods let her be. She had been so nervous at the announcement, clinging into the hope that Hiccup wouldn’t waste his time with the tournament, _Go to your damned dragon already!_ —she had thought that time.

And then the paper emerged from the Goblet of Fire, “Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III”, Headmistress Gothi read.

Of course it would be him. She remembers sitting frozen as the Hogwarts students roared to life, as students from each House began cheering his name as a display of rare unity. Even Snotlout had cheered then. But she couldn’t, she had went back to her room quickly and sobbed all night.

Gods, she despised him at that moment. She had been completely and totally overshadowed by a guy who used to be a nobody. If she thought she was confident in herself and her achievements, then she guesses she couldn’t anymore.

But Hogwarts was so happy. Especially when Hiccup tamed the dragons at the final test, having been able to make the dragons listen and cooperate with him to bring him the Golden Egg. She remembers how the Nightmare, Nadder, Zippleback, and the Gronckle all bowed to him, and how Hiccup had coaxed them, head turned away as he held the dragons’ snouts one by one. It was amazing, truthfully so.

She realized too, some point later on, that had she been chosen as the Hogwarts champion she may have lost the Final Test.

That didn't make her feel better at all.

\--

She sighed, her breakfast quickly cooling as she ate slowly. Her mood hadn’t improved much from last night, but she was still reeling with her last train of thought at the feast.

She had chosen to sit beside Fishlegs at the Hufflepuff table this time. Beside her, Fishlegs eats pop tart after pop tart, all the while engrossed with his deck of cards that Astrid has no interest of knowing about.

“You should cheer up Astrid.” Fishlegs remarks, not looking up from his cards. Astrid tsks, punching Fishlegs’ shoulder lightly.

“I’m not sad.” She replies, sitting up straighter now, feeling self-conscious. She can't be looking all weak and gloomy now.

Fishlegs hums, unconvinced. “You’ve been sighing non-stop since you sat here. That IS a sad Astrid.” He promptly puts his cards down and looks at her with his beady eyes. “So, how are you? You know you can tell me about it.”

Astrid smiles at him, appreciative for his concern. _If only Fishlegs ended up in Gryffindor and not Snotlout…_

“It’s nothing. I’m just sad we lost the third time, that’s all.” She replies easily, because it’s part of the truth. Fishlegs blinks once and twice. “Okaaaay.” Astrid doesn’t reply, choosing instead to toy at her braid.

“But normal Astrid would be more angry than sad.” Fishlegs says, to which Astrid raises an eyebrow.

“Does it have something to do with Hiccup?” He asks, out of a sudden, and Astrid abruptly looks down on her lap.

“No.” She replies a bit too quickly.

“So it is about Hiccup.” Fishlegs presses on, his tone lilting with excitement.

“I said no, this is not about him.” Astrid retorts, perhaps a bit too harshly. She bites her lip, suddenly apologetic. Beside her, Fishlegs doesn’t take offense.

“It’s okay, Astrid. The two of you have been toe-to-toe for the past three years, it’s like you guys are unspoken rivals. It must be really frustrating.”

Astrid nods. _Not toe to toe, more like me completely losing every damn time which makes me a total embarrassment…_ She replies bitterly in her head.

Speaking of the devil, the Great Hall suddenly grows noisy as Hiccup enters the doors, a large group of Slytherin students at his back.

The two of them watch the crowd, her eyes particularly drawn to Hiccup as he sits on his spot, chatting animatedly with Ruffnut. Around Astrid, the Hufflepuff students start to chatter among themselves, particularly about Hiccup.

"He's so amazing and dreamy...", remarks a soft-spoken Hufflepuff girl to her right.

“And so good looking!” A particularly bubbly Hufflepuff girl responds to her friend who giggled in response.

 _Yeah…he is…_ Astrid thinks, only to catch herself half a second later. She slams a hand to her forehead in grimace. The two girls at her right suddenly quiet down to stare at her confusedly.

“You know, I get that you’re a Gryffindor and all, and Hiccup's a Slytherin, but he's actually not that bad.” Fishlegs tells her jovially, watching the Slytherin table with interest. "He's actually super cool! We actually played a game of Dragons and Vikings last week, and let me tell you, he's one of the best competitive gamers I have ever met." Fishlegs trails off with something like respect laced in his voice.

“I know.” She replies with a sigh, because it was true. Hiccup was amazing. No doubt. No amount of jealousy in her heart can prevent her from admitting that. Astrid plays with her bangs as she continues to watch the Slytherin table.

Hiccup was kind and passionate, she reflects. He loved dragons, and he also loved people. She knows she’s biased because of her house, but for a Slytherin, he’s really kind.

Hiccup was also level-headed and competent. His intelligence wasn’t of the bookish, theory-heavy kind, no, he was equal parts adept at both theory and application. He was a strong leader too, charismatic and genuinely good.

Sure, there has been skirmishes between their houses in the past, but Hiccup was never one to play foul. Indeed, he had a sharp tongue and knew where to taunt where it irritates the most. Snotlout has been up his face quite a number of times, has stepped over the line often enough. But in those times Hiccup just smirks at him, says a thing or two about how Snotlout should really brush up on his skills as a Beater, because clearly he could never land a single hit on Hiccup.

In those times her role has always been to pull an agitated Snotlout away and reprimand him on the spot. She would not make him go on stupid fights, both as a Gryffindor and a prefect. But also because Hiccup was a prefect too, and he could very well report Snotlout to the headmaster and deduct points from their house.

And then Hiccup would give her a smirk, the greens of his eyes twinkling with amusement as he looked at her. And the she would look away coldly, dragging Snotlout by the back of his robes.

And Hiccup was…well, Hiccup. He was handsome and tall and dorky and has a cute voice—

 _Oh my Thor_. She stands up, cheeks flaming yet again, and stomps out the Great Hall. Fishlegs observes her curiously, wondering what got her so wrung up. He brings his gaze back to the Slytherin table and finds that he wasn’t the only one who watched Astrid’s sudden exit.

From his spot, Hiccup stares at Astrid’s retreating back, eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

\---

Astrid paces the corridors, lost in thought. She wants to get away from all this, from Hiccup being the center of attention, from her thoughts on Hiccup, from her loss at Quidditch, everything. She hates herself for her jealousy, because Hiccup deserves the recognition he gets. But she also hates herself for losing and losing, because there would be no jealousy and loss had she just been worthy enough, had she just been good enough.

She thinks of her family, all Gryffindors, proud and brave and strong. Her parents would surely be disappointed in her, being at the 2nd place all the damn time.

She bites her lip frustratedly. She wants so badly to get out of this mess, to prove herself to be an equal to Hiccup and to redeem herself as Gryffindor’s star student.

She’s so lost in her thoughts that she failed to notice an incoming set of footsteps, not until the person was in close enough proximity. She composes herself suddenly, standing straighter and flipping her braid back on her shoulder. She raises her eyes slowly, black, then green, then—oh no.

Hiccup smiles at her, hands in his pockets. Astrid cannot find it in her to smile back, her heart still tittering from her disappointment with herself. That, and the nerves in her stomach as she stared up at Hiccup’s face.

“I, uh, just wanted to tell you something.” Hiccup swallows, the apple at his throat bobbing up and down nervously. Astrid stares, transfixed.

“First, there’s the thing with the House Cup.” Hiccup starts, voice uncharacteristically unsure. Astrid nods along.

“Our house won for the third time, which I’m really happy for, but that meant yours lost so…no hard feelings, yeah?” He says and chuckles playfully. His smile quickly drops when Astrid doesn’t say anything in response, her blue eyes staying glued on his face.

“Uhm. Right. So.” She watches the expressions on his face, jumping from teasing to a sudden restrained panic, like he had done something very very wrong.

“Just…lately, some things have changed and I guess it has been kind of...weird for me.” He continues, holding her gaze steadily.

Inwardly, Astrid’s stomach drops. _Oh no…he must have noticed that I’ve been cold to him for the past few weeks. And how I didn’t even congratulate him, and how I’ve been avoiding his eye since last night…_

“But I guess I realized I shouldn’t think about it too hard, because really, I won’t lose anything.”

Oh gods no. Astrid breathes in shakily, preparing herself for the rightful accusation, because she was wrong, so utterly wrong about how she felt about all this

“I’ve decided that I should just tell you what’s been on my mind. For a while now.” Hiccup continues, voice dropping. He takes a breath to still himself. But Astrid beats him to it.

“I know what you think of me, Hiccup!” Astrid blurts out agitatedly, eyes pinched closed with fists clenched at her sides. In front of her, Hiccup’s mouth gapes open in shock.

“Y-you do?” He asks nervously.

“I do.” Astrid replies. “I know how what you think about me, and I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you.” She swallows, her hands flying to toy with her braid, while looking to the side. “But I’m really sorry, this is what I am, and you don’t deserve this…whatever this is…because it is wrong and I—“

“You’re right, Astrid! I totally don’t deserve you at all!” Hiccup interrupts which promptly stuns her to silence.

_What?_

Hiccup swallows again, one hand shooting up to rub at his nape. “I know it’s pathetic, only watching you from afar and never making a move, but how could I really?” He sighs, biting the bottom of his lip which totally doesn’t steal her gaze.

“How could I stop myself from liking you when you’re so amazing? When you’re so talented, and brave, and inspiring that I—” Hiccup suddenly pauses, looking away with flushed cheeks as he runs his hand over his hair.

_Hiccup called me…amazing?_

“I really admire you , I really do. And...I also think you’re beautiful.” He was looking at her when he said that, trying very hard to not to break his gaze away.

_B-beautiful?_

“I m-mean, of course you know you’re beautiful! But I just wanted to tell you that in my personal definition of beauty, I think you’re perfect.” He continues, cheeks seemingly getting redder at the second. “Odin Allfather, why did I say that?” He says as he winces to the side, messing up his hair once more with his left hand.

“But okay Astrid…I understand. You are right, I don’t deserve you. But thank you for letting me know right away.” His eyes had gone from embarrassed to sad in just a second. “It hurts but I guess I’ll just have to—”

“You’re wrong! I like you too!”

That stuns them both.

Hiccup’s eyes widen, his face in disbelief. Astrid was flushing now too, cheeks burning ablaze because of her sudden confession.

“I like you...It’s just that some things are difficult to accept, especially with you beating me at everything.” She breathes out, holding his gaze even if all she wanted to do was to look away.

“You don’t deserve my ill feelings, and I should just congratulate and support you.” She mumbles, shifting her weight left and right.

In front of her, Hiccup nods, hanging on to her every word.

“But I can’t help it too, you are all sorts of amazing, and you deserve everything. I know I can’t measure up to you but still…” Astrid trails off, wringing her hands nervously.

“I can’t deny that you look handsome and—“Astrid cuts off, too embarrassed to continue. Meanwhile, Hiccup couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hearing, his ears coloring a dusty pink at Astrid's words.

“Wait, so you weren’t rejecting me?” Hiccup asks her after a moment, voice softer and more hopeful. Astrid brings her gaze back up at his eyes then, confused.

"...what do you mean? Why would I reject you?" She says back to him. They stood frozen for a few seconds, both unable to think of an appropriate response.

_Oh gods. Hiccup was supposed to be confessing and I just--I just--_ She shifts at her feet, wringing her hands together while keeping her gaze to her feet. In front of her Hiccup scratches at the side of his head, looking at her with a lop-sided confused smile.

"Um, shall we start again?" Hiccup asks her, moving a little closer. Astrid nods and looks up once more to find his emerald eyes looking back at her.

"I like you Astrid. I have liked you for a long while now and we're already on our sixth year and I still haven't invited you out on a date." Hiccup exhales, chuckling nervously. Astrid hmms at that, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. Hiccup catches her smile and visibly relaxes giving her a wide grin.

"Tomorrow's the weekend and if you're not going home yet, I was hoping if we could hang out in Hogsmeade together?" He asks expectantly. Astrid chuckles inwardly.

"Sure, why not. Your treat." She replies, trying to be cool, but the weird feeling in her stomach has come back.

Hiccup beams at her words. "Great!" He says a bit too excitedly. "I mean, wow Astrid, what a way to take advantage of my heart, huh?" He replies playfully to which Astrid rolls her eyes.

"I mean, you might as well add me to the list of people you'll have to treat for a Butterbeer tomorrow." She retorts with a smirk. Hiccup rubs his face with a groan at her reply, mumbling, "Those twins, I swear..."

She laughs softly at him, watching as Hiccup tried to give her a glare that was completely ruined with his smiling mouth.

They stare at each other for a few seconds, comfortable in the silence that followed Hiccup's confession. Then, Hiccup steps closer and holds his hands out at her, to which she looks at questioningly. Hiccup just gives her a smile and waits for her to put her own on his.

And when she does, she immediately notes how Hiccup's hands were calloused and warm. With long fingers that curled easily around hers, her smaller ones wrapped delicately in his hold.

She's sure she's blushing from her ears to her cheeks. She hopes Hiccup wouldn't notice.

"When I said that you were amazing and inspiring, I was dead serious you know." She nods and bites her lip, waiting for his next words. "I didn't understand what you meant when you said you can't measure up to me, because I always thought I was trying to catch up to you."

She blinks at Hiccup then, perplexed at his line of thought, not when he was literally unbeatable and everyone looks up to him. "But I guess that's something we'll have to work around, I guess? I will try to understand you, even if right now what you said doesn't make sense to me." Hiccup continues, green orbs locked on their hands, his thumbs running over her knuckles. But Astrid was staring at his face, lost in the earnestness of his voice and his emotions.

Suddenly, she feels a weight slowly rising out of her chest, like a burden was slowly being lifted off from her. Her heartbeat thunders on her ears, so fast and steady as she took in the boy in front of her.

"I want to get closer to you, if you'd let me. And then maybe we'll...I dunno... _holdhandsorsomething_..." Hiccup mumbles the last part embarrassedly, but Astrid caught all of it. She chuckles at him, untangling one of her hands to lay a punch on his shoulder. Hiccup grunts and rubs at the part where she hit him, his "What now?" being choked up by his laugh.

"That's for beating me in the finals." She says, smirking as she placed her hands on her hips. Hiccup shakes his head at that, his grin seemingly plastered permanently on his face.

They hear several voices from the end of the corridor, signifying that breakfast in the Great Hall was over.

"So...see you at the Great Hall tomorrow morning?" Hiccup asks her, hands back in his pockets. Astrid hums out a "Sure" while pretending to look at her nails.

"Okay. I'll see you then." Hiccup finishes right before a crowd of students emerge from the end of the corridor. She watches him as he fixes his tie before walking.

"See you." Astrid says over her shoulder, Hiccup looking back at her one last time with a grin, before facing forward to find his house members.

She breathes out an easy sigh this time, her feet moving automatically to go find her friends at the Gryffindor common room. She fixes her bangs, feeling the heat from her cheeks simmer to a comfortable warmth.

And just like that, Hiccup's words build up a considerable part of her confidence back, and Astrid feels headstrong once more. She failed to tell him that she has also liked him for a while now, just as he did, but she supposes they have all the time.

For now, she has a date to get ready for.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's my first ever HP AU! Hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> This was written as a character study for Astrid, because let's face it, she will definitely have inferiority issues given her competitiveness. I think it would be interesting to write how would Astrid feel when the spotlight is taken from her--but make it HP universe. Oh and, I have a soft spot for Hogwarts AUs even tho Rowling is shit af. 
> 
> To be completely honest, a big part of the reason why I wrote this was because I wanted to prove the point that Hiccup is definitely Slytherin lmao. 
> 
> *Green Eyes Black Dragon - hope you guys got this reference, haha. I was referring to Blue Eyes White Dragon, the incredibly overpowered card in Yu-gi-oh!


End file.
